Emperor Palpatine Had a Plan to Destroy the New Republic After His Death

We all watched Palpatine’s plunge to his death in the second Death Star at the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, but his legacy lives on through new, devious means in the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront II.

We’ve known for some time that the story mode of Battlefront II follows Imperial soldier Iden Versio in the 30 years between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, but emerging details confirm that Emperor Palpatine, it would seem, plays an important role in the game. In the event of his death, he had a plan set in motion to destabilize the New Republic in his absence

Select outlets have spent time playing the first three missions of Battlefront II, and the game actually begins during the Battle of Endor. Versio and her squad watch helplessly from Endor as the Death Star explodes. When she reunites with an Imperial Admiral, one of the Emperor’s red droids, called a Sentinel, delivers a pre-recorded message.

The scene is briefly featured during the recent Single Player Trailer:

The game’s co-writer Mitch Dyer confirmed with Newsweek in June that Battlefront II’s events were somewhat anchored by the canonical comic book series Shattered Empire and later continued in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath novels.

In Shattered Empire, the Emperor had numerous Sentinels dispatched to deliver messages to high-ranking officers after his death to execute his contingency plan. In the comics, “Operation: Cinder” is part of a plan to destroy the Rebellion and inflict terror upon the galaxy, but further participants in Palpatine’s contingency are organized to destroy even the Imperial fleet. His end-game was to ensure that no single person or entity could rule the Empire or the galaxy in his absence.

So it looks like Battlefront II will fit in neatly with these canon stories and detail just how chaotic the galaxy was in that span of 30 years. We’ll be able to encounter Luke Skywalker before The Force Awakens and likely even see the rise of the First Order.

Now we just have to wait a few more weeks for the game.

Star Wars: Battlefront II will be released for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on November 17, 2017.